Avengers: Infinity War served as the culmination of nearly 10 years worth of storytelling within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing together a hitherto undreamt of amount of heroes to the big screen to face their biggest challenge yet in the Mad Titan Thanos. While Thanos proved to be worth the hype, his Black Order was dispatched with relative ease by the Avengers. According to co-director Joe Russo, this was by design, so as not to overshadow Thanos.
Russo explained why Thanos' Black Order -- consisting of Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian (Black Dwarf) -- were made to be less powerful than their comic book counterparts in a commentary track accompanying the Avengers: Infinity War home releases.
"The Black Order, in particular, we worked hard to adjust them to the Marvel Cinematic Universe," Russo explained. "In the [Jonathan] Hickman run, I thought the characters were too powerful. And nobody wants the sub-villain to outshine the villain. And we adjusted their power sets so that they lined up in a way that was more interesting with our heroes. Which is why Maw's a 'wizard.'"
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While the Black Order were made less powerful, their power sets were altered to line up with the heroes they faced in Infinity War, with Ebony Maw acting like an anti-Doctor Strange. "I think we decided he's a techno mage," said screenwriter Stephen McFeely. "So he can move and control things at a molecular level."
Thanos' Black Order only appear together in their entirety at the beginning of Infinity War while they're decimating the Asgardian refugee vessel carrying Thor, Bruce Banner and Loki. After Thanos obtains the Space Stone from Loki, he sends the Order off to Earth in search of the Time and Mind Stones. Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian land in New York to secure the Time Stone from Doctor Strange, where Cull Obsidian is teleported by Wong and loses a hand in the process. Meanwhile Maw successfully captures Strange aboard his ship, only to later be sucked out into space by Iron Man and Spider-Man, leading to his death.
Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight attack Vision and Scarlet Witch in Edinburgh for the Mind Stone, and briefly have the edge until Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow appear, wounding Glaive causing the Order to retreat. Proxima Midnight appears again with Cull Obsidian in the final battle in Wakanda, while Glaive stalks Vision to obtain the Mind Stone while Shuri attempts to remove it. Cull Obsidian is killed when Bruce Banner sends him rocketing up into the force field over Wakanda, while Proxima Midnight is killed by Scarlet Witch, who levitates her into one of the wheel-like machines unleashed during the battle. Glaive is dispatched by Captain America, who stabs him through the back with his own glaive.
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Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston and Josh Brolin. Available now on Digital HD, Infinity War is available Aug. 14 on DVD and Blu-ray.
(via ComicBook)